Kontiolasta, Mäntymaasta ja Laineesta asiaa Hockey's Futuressa:
Tappara paves Kontiola's way to fame
Tappara formed a solid, functional team this year and left much of their struggling opposition behind in the regular season. They fought for the second place finish until the end, but had to settle with the fourth place.
Tappara looked to improve their defense corps still in the middle of the season. They did have youngsters like Ville Mäntymaa (ANA) coming up, but Mäntymaa isn't one the team had much faith in. His breakout is still waiting to happen after three years of toiling at the fringes of the line-up. He appeared in 32 games and scored one goal.
The face of this year's Tappara was undoubtedly Petri Kontiola (CHI), 21. The team had centers in abundance and Kontiola was moved off his natural position onto the right wing of the first line. He flourished there as well and was arguably the league's best playmaker on power play. He scored nine goals and 35 assists (league high) for 44 points (team high) in 56 games. Kontiola's next challenge is to find ways to produce in less time and space so that he could enjoy an NHL career one day.
Teemu Laine (NJ) started out strong with nine points in the first 10 games, only to disappear once again. The checking speedster was pushed back to the lower lines and finished with 17 points in 55 games.